


The End of a Beginning

by faintstark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Everyone Is Alive, Fluff, Gen, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, and happy, because I said so, because i am one, can also be mild slash if you want, excessive use of the word sap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-25 04:56:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19738747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faintstark/pseuds/faintstark
Summary: Rhodey woke up to the smell of burnt food, and he knew today's going to be a long day.Life wasn't easy when you have one Tony Stark in it, but Rhodey's not exactly complaining either.





	The End of a Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [heleus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heleus/gifts).



> wow. i stepped out of my angst puddle to write fluff??
> 
> well. at least i hope this passes as fluff.
> 
> this is for tyler, happy birthday! i hope you're having an amazing day, and a wonderful year waiting in front of you.

Rhodey woke up to the smell of burnt food. He groaned as he rolled over on his bed, his hand reaching blindly for the clock on his bedside drawer. He squinted at the glaring light, and groaned again when he found out it was only 7 AM.

He moved to a sitting position, his back cracking loudly as he did so. He stood up, determined to find who the hell interrupted his peaceful Saturday morning. Braces whirring, he made a beeline for the kitchen of his tiny apartment, head still a little clouded from sleep.

Rhodey coughed the exact moment he stepped to the kitchen, because the air was thinly veiled with smoke. Goddammit, someone's trying to burn his house down, apparently. His eyes caught the back of someone, with that familiar mop of greying hair, and he frowned.

“The hell are you doing here?” Rhodey exclaimed instead of a greeting.

“Good morning to you too, Rhodey.” The man said without turning around. He muttered a curse under his breath when whatever he was frying on the pan sizzled a little bit too loud. “I’m fine, thank you. How about you?”

Rhodey sighed in exasperation, and he paid for it with another coughing fit. He stomped out of the kitchen, and he came back with the electric fan. He turned it on the highest setting, and settled it on the dining table, where he then sat in front of.

“I’m surprised you haven’t activated the goddamn sprinklers.”

“Yeah, about that,” The intruder finally spared him a glance, and Rhodey caught his almost sheepish smile. “I might have… modified it.”

Rhodey groaned, hand rubbing his face. “Tony, you can’t just turn off someone’s fire alarm.”

Tony shrugged, and Rhodey seriously considered to throw something to the back of the asshole’s head. “Hey, I’m not risking drowning your house.”

“So you’d rather set it on fire.”

Tony scoffed at that. He turned off the stove rather aggresively, and took whatever he was frying to the plate on the counter. Rhodey raised an eyebrow as Tony set the plate in front of him, beside the orange juice that he noticed a little bit too late. The plate held a yellow mass that he guessed was scrambled eggs, some almost black bacon, and a fairly decent toast. He looked up to meet Tony’s face, but he was washing his hands while still muttering curses.

“Tones? What’s this all about?” Rhodey asked as he poked his ‘meal’ with a fork. “You do realize this is 7 in the morning, and you almost burned my apartment down, right?”

“I got it handled!” Tony sounded mildly offended, and Rhodey snorted at his expense.

“Yeah, sure. Still doesn’t answer _why_.”

Tony turned almost abruptly, staring at Rhodey with a frown. Rhodey merely stared back at him, challenging. Tony huffed, and he turned around to turn off the sink.

“It’s your birthday, Sourpatch.”

Rhodey blinked in surprise. Okay, he totally forgot about that. To be fair, he wasn’t exactly expecting anyone else to remember, either. It just kinda… slipped from his mind. It's only been months after they saved the universe, after all. But now Tony’s here, at 7 in the morning, making—or attempting to make, anyway—him breakfast, and he couldn’t help but feel a little bit touched.

Rhodey picked a little bit of the yellow mass on his plate and put it in his mouth. As he guessed, it was scrambled egg. A little bit too salty for his liking, but edible, so he’ll take it.

“Not bad.” He said to Tony, who had been watching him almost expectantly. Rhodey noticed the way his shoulders sagged in relief, but decided not to mention it.

“Of course it’s not bad.” His usual sarcastic remark came back again, and Rhodey had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. “Consider yourself lucky I’m doing this.”

Rhodey paused at that. He stared at Tony, who was now staring outside the window holding his coffee cup, expression unreadable. Rhodey could still see the scar, the marks on the right side of his face. Not scorching like during that day of battle anymore, god forbid, but still there all the same. He looked to Tony’s right arm, hidden under a hoodie, how the metal on his hand glinted reflecting the morning sunlight.

Tony noticed him staring—he always did—and limped over to where Rhodey was sitting. He leaned over the table, and suddenly they were staring face-to-face, their foreheads touching.

“What?” Tony asked flatly, and Rhodey could smell the coffee from his breath.

Rhodey didn’t do so much as flinching. This wasn’t new. He knew Tony, he knew how clingy the genius actually was, how he hid it under layers and layers of masks. How he would not hide anymore in front of his closest ones. How he never hid it with Rhodey, even those days back at MIT.

With their close proximity, Rhodey could pinpoint the jarring differences of Tony’s right and left side of face. How his left side was still the same, flawless as ever except for the lines that marked his age. How the right side was a mess of scar, roots and branches, dancing across his features, probably will never disappear. The proof that he’s the hero. Not that Rhodey needed any proof anyway.

But this was still his Tony, and Rhodey couldn’t care less about any of those scars. How could he, when Tony, a mere human, actually survived the power of the gauntlet and all Infinity Stones. How could he, when Tony walked out of the last battle, battered and bruised, but breathing, surviving. How could he, when Tony was standing in front of him, at 7 in the morning, making him breakfast to celebrate his birthday?

“I am lucky.” Rhodey said quietly, his breath tickling both of their faces. He smiled softly. “Thank you, Tony.”

Tony blinked. He huffed, kissing Rhodey’s cheek before he pulled back. He gave Rhodey one of his genuine smile, which wasn’t so rare these days, what with Morgan's mere existence, Peter coming back, and also the team, all together. Everyone safe and happy. Rhodey returned the smile, feeling incredibly happy himself.

“Sap.” Tony said with a smirk, and the spell was broken. Rhodey rolled his eyes at his bestfriend, hard.

“Says you.” Rhodey took another bite of his meal. “I know you cried when Peter and Morgan gave you that Father’s Day present.”

Tony gave him an exaggerated gasp. “To be fair, that present was _beautiful_.”

“Sure.” Rhodey laughed. He shoved another bite of meal to his mouth. It was still warm. Just like the sunlight seeping through the window, just like something inside his chest, just like Tony’s gaze that was fixed on him.

“So,” Tony started, rubbing his hands excitedly. Rhodey didn’t miss the glint of mischief in his eyes. “You’re gonna prepare yourself after this, then I’m taking you out.”

Rhodey smirked at him. “Is this a date invitation?”

“Yes.” Tony answered without hesitation, and Rhodey laughed again. “What? We haven’t had any of those since MIT!”

“You’re crazy.” Rhodey hid his smile behind the orange juice.

“That’s a common knowledge. You'd still follow me anywhere.”

“That I will.”

Tony looked at him, expression sobering a little bit, but he kept smiling.

“Sap.” Rhodey echoed him, and Tony threw a blueberry to his face.

“Careful, Honeybear. I’m gonna make sure the kids prank you real good.”

Rhodey gave a long suffering sigh. “Stop giving them bad influence.”

“No, no, no. It’s their own idea.” Tony grinned, and Rhodey couldn’t stop the feeling of gratitude rushing at him from looking at Tony being that happy. It’s what he deserved.

Tony threw him another blueberry. “You’re an actual hypocrite and you know that. Stop looking like an old sap. Finish your meal so I can give you your present already.”

“Aw, you prepared a present for me?” Rhodey touched his chest, and this time he caught the blueberry Tony threw at him.

“Can’t believe you think so low of me. Be fast since I’m giving it while we're out. Then we’re going to my place for lunch.”

“Who’s gonna come?”

Tony shrugged. “Pretty much everyone.” He started counting with his fingers, “Pep, Morgan, Peter; obviously. I think Harley’s trying to make it. Steve and his group. No idea if Thor and the team can make it. But Carol’s gonna fetch Nebula and they said they’ll drop by.”

Rhodey shook his head, feeling a little bit overwhelmed. “Tony, you don’t have to do this.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, expression incredulous. “Are you kidding me? And you always tell me not to be self-depreciating.” He munched a blueberry before continuing. “Everyone loves you, Platypus. Of course they’ll try to come to celebrate your birthday.”

“I know but… this is just too much.”

Tony sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Rhodey, it’s the least we can do for you. It’s the least _I_ can do for you. If it makes you feel any better, it’s only once in a year, alright? Just, come and let everyone celebrate it.”

Rhodey relented, smiling a little. “Okay.”

“Now, I don’t know about you, but Wilson’s being fishy these past few days. I feel like he’s thinking about us giving you the best present is some kind of competition, which, he’ll lose because nothing can beat _my_ present—”

Tony kept rambling on as Rhodey continued his breakfast. Hanging out with Peter Parker definitely worsened his rambling tendencies, but Rhodey didn’t mind. He’d listen to Tony talk about anything, anytime. Tony liked to gush about how Rhodey’s always there for him, but really, the feeling’s mutual. Rhodey’s eternally grateful that Tony was always there for him, that no matter how much Tony had no idea how to look after himself, he was always on Rhodey’s side. They had each other’s back. Since the beginning, now, and until the end.

This, Rhodey thought, as Tony took a seat beside him and started nibbling from his plate, scrunching his face as he tasted his own cooking but not commenting, wasn’t so bad of an ending.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos/comment are very much appreciated! <3 sorry if there's any errors, this work wasn't beta-read since my beta is ty and i'm trying to gift this for them so... yeah.
> 
> you can also find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/faintstark)!


End file.
